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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Keeping Busy!

Brace yourselves - you're in for a WHOLE lot of McAnally with this post. I feel like the week has kind of gotten away from me with the What's On... Your Menu post and then yesterday's WIWW featuring my new love and the bracelet giveaway! HOW IS TODAY ALREADY THURSDAY?!??!! Anyway, there's LOTS of fun to cover so I'm diving right in.

My boys love to craft. Love. It.

They love to be creative and messy and they're always proud of their finished work.

Last Saturday we did a really simple project - I took one paper plate (I always use the heavy duty chinet ones because they're big and hold up well to the GOBS of paint my kids like to use) and cut it in half. I gave them each half of the plate and then laid out all the paints for them and let them go to town. After they painted, we let it dry and then later that night went back and attached ribbons and yarn for the "tentacles".

In typical Luke fashion, his had to be pink with purple spots and he had to have three groups of four pieces of yarn "gathered" in the middle like a "REAL" jellyfish. He was determined and adamant :) He even drew his own face on!

Mason's was a little more "free form"...

The project was SUPER easy and the boys really enjoyed the final product. It could be done with crayons or markers as well if paint isn't your thing.

Saturday morning was the first Saturday of the month, so Dave packed the boys up and they went to the Kids Workshop at Home Depot.

And yes.... he obliged to taking my big camera with the ruffly camera strap because he's the best :)

Apparently at this point Mason was messing with my camera and Dave couldn't figure out what he did and then every picture he took after turned out blurry. hahaha

Which is a crying shame because how cute would this picture have been??? :)

They also had snow cones, hot dogs and a bounce house that the boys got to enjoy while they were there!

Saturday afternoon Mason teases his sister and I literally heard him say, "Gwippin, look at this awesome block you can't reach" #littlesisterproblems

I was calling the boys into the kitchen for dinner and Mason wasn't coming - I found him passed out on my bed.

I carried him around for at least 10 minutes SOUND ASLEEP trying to talk to him and wake him up. Finally I just had to lay him on the kitchen floor and let him cry it out. Poor baby! The no-nap situation IS getting better... but Saturday was busy after a fun (and late!) day on Friday and he just crashed.

This sweet girl "brusha brusha'd" in her adorable little monogrammed jammies :) and then it was bedtime all around!

Sunday morning I wore a super fun maxi dress by Mustard Pie. Mustard Pie is actually a little girls brand - but they make coordinating mama pieces as well. I'm not ALWAYS a fan... but this print spoke to me :) And yes... Griffin has a coordinating dress - but it's a size 2 so you'll have to wait until next Spring to see us matchy matchy.

Dave is very "basic" when it comes to his wardrobe choices (plain bottoms, plain tops, basic colors, nothin' crazy!) and he was laughing at us as we piled out of the car. You can totally tell who picked out the kiddos clothes on Sunday morning.

I was changing clothes and left my phone on the counter and later in the afternoon I found these pics courtesy of Luke :)

Sunday afternoon I napped (hallelujah!!!), worked on some design projects and then got ready to go to our Sunday School monthly girls social. I wore my petticoat tank from Anthropologie (on sale and an extra 20% off right now with code BUZZ20 !!!)

We had 19 girls and we all came with a wrapped book and when we were ready to exchange we drew numbers out of a bowl. Number one picked first, opened a book and showed it to everyone. The person who was number two could either steal the book that had already been opened OR open a new one. If a book is stolen, the person who had it stolen from them opens a new book OR steals from someone else and a book can only be stolen twice. I hope that all makes sense! I've always heard it called "Chinese Christmas" and it's so much fun! We've done it with Christmas ornaments in the past and a group of girlfriends and I do it with scarves on Labor Day every year to kick off Fall :)

I left with The Antelope In The Living Room which I've been dying to read and I'm working on compiling a list of the other titles that were exchanged because there were some GREAT ones!

Monday morning we hung out at home and Luke taught Griffin this really "funny" trick where she will shake her finger at you and screech "no! no! no!" :)

The boys delivered a decorated to Anna Grace before she left on a mission trip to Alaska!

and later in the afternoon we worked on another craft!

Each of the boys finger painted a paper plate and half a piece of card stock red.

It was messy and they loved every second of it.

I forgot to take a picture... but after it was dry I cut sections of their painted card stock and helped them fold it to make accordion arms. I used parts of the card stock to make the rectangles for the eyes as well. I cut the plate in half and used the bottom half for the claws - I cut Mason's out for him, but drew Luke's on the plate for him to cut.

Mason's crab is residing on his bookcase...

... and Luke's is on the art wire in their room. The little arms move around and they're adorable!

Monday night we headed to the pool and Divalivious sported her leopard headwrap and sunnies :)

The kids all swam hard and then we relaxed with some ice cream in the cabana :)

I attempted a group pic....

... and this was as good as I got :)

I took Griffin home to go to bed, but Haha came and met the boys and Dave so they could putt.

He brought Mason his own putter and Mason was just a LIIIIIIIIITLE bit excited. I'm not sure WHO thought giving Mason a metal rod was a good idea :)

Tuesday morning the kids and I headed to the mall to run a couple of errands...

.... and we spent at least 5 minutes watching the elevator run. Their favorite part of the mall by FAR!

Of course a trip to the mall wouldn't be complete without a stop at The Lego Store :)

Tuesday afternoon the boys spent lots of time outside and I held Griffin upside down to try and get a picture of her new teeth! Yes, people... she's been doing ALL THAT EATING with two teeny teeth :) hahaha

We played cards with "Spider Mason"...

... and spent some time working on hand print art for a special family project we had planned for Wednesday.

Family service projects have been on my heart a LOT recently. We have been blessed with SO VERY MUCH and I want my kids to think of others and have a heart of service. They're still very small and lots of service projects aren't great for our family - so I decided to use what we have at the moment (crazy amounts of cuteness) and brighten up the days of some residents at a local Assisted Living Center.

We passed out our projects to the residents of the "memory unit", gave out lots of hugs and just let the kids kind of do their thing.

The boys assisted in an aerobics class :)

... and Luke worked on puzzles with a resident and her nurse.

I was so proud of the kids manners and how well they handled the entire situation. They were smiley and social and didn't hesitate to shake hands and hug.

We have plans to go back soon - as well as do a few other service projects as a family.

When we got home, G ran around outside for a bit...

... and then we blew up the GIANT floats that Miss Shay gave the kids for their birthdays :)

We hadn't blown them up yet since we usually are swimming at the country club pool where they don't want everyone bringing in their floats, but since we were headed to the Shulls and they had given the kids the floats it was only appropriate that we brought them. The didn't look NEARLY this big on the box. I think next time I'll bring the pump with me and blow them up there. hahaha

#momlife

Driving around in my minivan with huge inflatable sea life.

They were a pain in the butt to get over there - but it was totally worth it because seriously... so much fun!

Last year Luke was super hesitant about the water - this year NOT AT ALL! Check him out jumping off the ledge! (and yes.... I still make him wear floaties when I'm not in the water with him)

That Presley Dreffs is one tough cookie :)

My boys had the best time swimming and running around with their friends. They were EXHAUSTED when we got home. #bonus

Look at that crazy crew!!! Love these kiddos and love their mamas!!!

Whew!!! What a busy few days :) I attempted to shorten the post - but since I like to think of this as my scrapbook I didn't want to leave out any of the fun. Happy Summer, Friends! :)

Love that you took the kids to the assisted living place. My mother had Alzheimer's and never responded much EXCEPT when children came in to visit. She loved it ! So important for the children too, so that they aren't afraid or uncomfortable around them! Good job, little mother! I'll remember that for my future grandchildren!!

I love your mini van picture with #momlife. I took a similar pic last week I took my boys out for lunch. Most women were wearing work clothes (skirts, blazers, high heels) and I was wearing a Spider-Man shirt that my boys loved ;) I love your idea for service projects. I want something I can do with young kids. Would love to see your book list! As a teacher I am trying to read lots over the summer.

I love a post with a whole lot of McAnally in it!! I can't wait until we go back to the retirement home with your new idea (insert me really excited!!) and those blow up animals...I laughed and laughed when you showed up with them. Girl, they were the HIT of the party!!! Love you guys!

I love the picture of Luke and Mason holding hands, I think pictures of brothers holding hands are one of the cutest things ever. I seriously post every.single.picture I get of my boys holding hands, it never gets old. I also love the craft ideas!

The little crabs are cute!And the handprint/footprint flower delivery idea was so so sweet!!!Mason & Luke's Home Depot pics just motivated me to sign Nolan up for a project at Lowe's on Saturday :)www.floralandfudge.blogspot.com

I work in a Memory Care facility and LOVE that you brought the kids! I know our residents love children and I'm sure you made the residents by you very happy! Alzheimers is a terrible disease but most everyone smiles when little kids come around :)

So much that I loved in this post!! I swear Hallie is the female version of Mason. We're in the same nap phase right now. Have you seen the Mustard Pie fall line sneaks? I'm loving the colors!!! I haven't bought any momma pieces, but I might with this line. It's to die for!! I've also had service projects on my heart lately. I've been making a list for us to do very soon. You should check out @everydayeasleys on Instagram. I have gotten tons of ideas from her.

I'm so excited to go back to the retirement home with all of our sweet little kiddos dressed up in their costume. But I don't know if I want to wait until October. I think I'll call Narci and see if she wants to go tomorrow. :)